Why did the Modi govt accept Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation? | The politics behind a rare retreat

[00:00:00]It took over 11 months of farmers' protest at Delhi borders before the government withdrew the three farm laws.

[00:00:07]This time, it took just a month.

[00:00:11]A student agitation at Jantar Mantar has forced [music] the 12-year-old Modi government to take a step back.

[00:00:18]Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned, [music] saying he respects the aspiration and expectations of the country's youth. The resignation is a tactical retreat.

[00:00:28][music] The agitation had grown after police lathi charged students marching towards the parliament on July 20th. The protest spread across the country. Unease grew within the government, the party, and its allies. [music] Even former HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi publicly backed the students, signaling [music] the discomfort within a section of party and the Sangha Parivar. The trigger was unexpected. On May 15th, Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant made an oral observation in an unrelated case, calling [music] the petitioners cockroaches.

[00:01:04]That remark, combined with the NEET exam leak, became a rallying point for students.

[00:01:11]The cockroach Janata Party took up the cause.

[00:01:14]>> [music] >> Activist Sonam Wangchuk joined in. What followed was a fast, then a march that changed everything. [music] The talks began the same day of the march.

[00:01:25]Student leaders Saurabh Das and Ashutosh Ranka put forward three demands: [music] Pradhan's resignation, compensation for students who died by suicide, and the dropping of all FIRs against the protesting [music] students. Unlike the farmers' agitation or the anti-CAA protest, [music] the government found no counter narrative here.

[00:01:48]Most of the students also belong to the BJP's core middle class and youth constituency, a base it could not [music] afford to alienate. Pradhan's exit is a setback for the government that had built an image of not bending to pressure. He was a frontrunner for BJP president before the party turned to younger Nitin Naveen.

[00:02:09]A sign that BJP wants its organization >> [music] >> to speak the language of Gen Z.

[00:02:16]Pradhan was also a quintessential organization man credited with several state election wins, the most recent being Bihar.

[00:02:25]His resignation may have >> [music] >> spared the government a bigger trouble with polls due in next months in states [music] like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand. Because the protest was largely apolitical triggered by a paper leak rather than a policy, the party managers calculated that retreat would [music] not cost them much.

[00:02:46]Delhi was also just over 2 weeks away from a high security arrangements for Independence Day.

[00:02:53]Continuing protest would have been a awkward backdrop for Prime Minister's address to the nation.

[00:02:59]The fight between the government >> [music] >> and opposition is set to sharpen from here.

[00:03:05]Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi had launched a parallel protest aligned with the students' [music] cause. Pradhan's resignation has handed the opposition a moral boost.

[00:03:16]Beyond the politics, there's a larger lesson.

[00:03:20]Gen Z spoke a different language at the protest sites through memes and Instagram reels.

[00:03:25]It exposed the gaps between India's political class and the first-time voters.

[00:03:31]A generation that doesn't carry its parents' [music] baggage.

[00:03:35]Now, all eyes will be on how the government corrects its messaging as the parliament is in session and the cabinet reshuffle looms.

[00:03:45]And also where the BJP, led by Abhijit Dipke, goes next.

[00:03:51]They won't fritter away the gains of immense energy generated by this protest.